Tigers Spoil the Gauchos' Senior Day with 8-7 Win Over UCSB

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
After being swept by UC Santa Barbara in a doubleheader on Saturday, Pacific rebounded and posted an 8-6 win over the Gauchos at Campus Diamond Sunday afternoon. The Gauchos, who were celebrating "Senior Day", rebounded from an 8-1 deficit in the sixth inning, but were unable to complete the comeback as they fell short against the Tigers.

With the loss, UCSB falls to 28-22 on the season and 11-7 in Big West games. The Gauchos are still in second place in the conference standings, two games behind Long Beach State (13-5) and one game ahead of a three-way tie for third between Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly, and Cal State Northridge, who have all gone 10-8 in conference games.

After two scoreless innings, the Tigers got on the board at the top of the third. With two outs, Nicole Matson singled to left field before stealing second base. Alyce Jorgenson followed with a single to left center and then advanced to second on the throw as Matson crossed home plate to put Pacific ahead, 1-0. An error during the next play allowed Kellee Wilson to reach first and allowed Jorgenson to come home for the unearned run. A home run by Lauren Weyman over the left field fence stretched the Tigers' lead to 4-0.

At the top of the following inning, Pacific added one more run when Casey Goldsand hit an RBI single to left field allowing Mandy Hickman to score. The UCSB drought ended during the same inning when Tiffany Wright hit a solo homer over the left field fence to cut the Pacific lead to 5-1.

Unfortunately for the Gauchos, Pacific continued its onslaught at the top of the fifth. With one out, Weyman singled and then stole second. Karie Wilson then posted a single to left field before Hickman homered over the center field fence further stretching the Pacific advantage to 8-1.

In the bottom of the same inning, UCSB was able to load the bases, but failed to bring anyone home. The sixth inning was a different story, however, for the Gauchos. Wright led off with a single to right field and Tisha Duran followed with a walk. Ericka Hansen followed with a single to left field, loading the bases. Freshman Jessica Beristianos came-up to bat and hit a three RBI double. Beristianos advanced to third during the same play on a Tiger error, so when Priscilla Perez hit a fly ball to center field during the next at-bat, the runner scored, cutting the Gaucho deficit to 8-5.

At the bottom of the seventh, Christine Ramos led-off with a double to center field and one out later was driven home by Wright, who doubled down the left field line. With two outs and one runner on, Hansen walked and Wright was able to move to third on a wild pitch. The Tigers earned the final out of the inning on a foul fly, leaving the Gauchos' tying run stranded.

Tiffany Wright led the team in the loss, going 3-for-4 with two runs, a home run, a double, and two RBI. Her home run on Sunday was her 10th this season and the 21st of her career. She currently is just two homers shy of tying Tonya Dias' UCSB career home run record of 23.

All three Gaucho pitchers saw time in the circle. MeLinda Matsumoto (8-10) took the loss after pitching the first three innings and giving up four runs, only one of which was earned, on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Tami Weston pitched 1.1 innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits with one walk. Lindsey Correa completed the game, tossing 2.2 innings with two hits, one walk, and three strikeouts.

For the Tigers, Chelsea Engle (15-17) picked up the win and allowed five runs, four earned, on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts in five innings of work.

The Gauchos will conclude the 2008 regular season on the road next weekend at Cal State Fullerton. The two teams will face-off in a doubleheader at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 9 before completing the Big West series with a noon game on Sunday.